Tindómiel
by LalaithElerrina
Summary: Elros and Andreth, the king and queen of Númenor are content and happy with their marriage and their infant son Vardamir, but something unforeseen is soon to happen that they did not anticipate. At least not so soon...


...oOo...

Tindómiel

Dawn was little more than a breath of light upon the horizon as Andreth opened her eyes and sighed contentedly. Though this grassy open place where Elros had pitched their tent was new to the baby, Vardamir had slept contentedly through the night, for which she was wondrously grateful.

Careful not to disturb the slumber of her husband Elros, whose arm still lay across her stomach, Andreth turned her head to study her son's sleeping face.

At eight months old, he was no longer the newborn that he was. But he was still a baby. And as beautiful as the first moment she had lain eyes upon him. His own eyes, though closed, were turned toward her where he lay in the woven basket beside the sheepskin bedding where his parents had slept. Andreth smiled as he shifted in his sleep, his little fists curled up against his face.

"Thank you for sleeping through the night, my son," she murmured, reaching out and touching a whisp of hair on his brow, then caressing the little blunted tip of his ear, not quite so pointed as his father's. "But if you wish to waken now, you may. Are you not hungry?"

Vardamir only shifted a little and went on sleeping.

Andreth laughed a little, then sighed and turned her eyes toward the roof of the tent. It billowed a little in the early morning breeze coming off the ocean, the canvas sides glowing weakly with the coming dawn. Though Vardamir did not get his full nourishment from her as he had when he was first born, he still nursed regularly, and her breasts were beginning to ache from the child having slept the whole night without eating.

She did not wish to trouble his slumber if he did not want to wake, so instead, she carefully drew herself from Elros' embrace, pushed back the thick comforter that had sheltered them through the night, and rose to her feet.

The tent had no floor, and the grass of the bluff where they had camped was cool beneath her feet. A secret smile came to her face as she recalled the soft grass of the forest glade where her little son sleeping blissfully at her feet, had been conceived.

Heaving a silent sigh, she bent and picked up her discarded robe, dry now, but still smelling a little of salt water, and drew it about her shoulders before she stepped to the door of the tent and lifted the flap.

Again the wonder of the scene struck her anew. So like the bluff and the beach that she and Elros had visited in their shared dreams, that it was hard not to believe for a moment that she was dreaming again. But no, this was real. Everything here was real.

A faint smirk twisted her lips. And what had passed between her and her beloved last night in the deepest watches when Vardamir and all the world but them had slept, had been real, too. She let her eyes trail down the slope of the grassy bluff to the beach, and the edge of the water where the sea hissed rhythmically up against the sand-

Andreth closed her eyes and folded her arms against herself, remembering-

As if reading her mind, a soft voice thick with sleep murmured, "Good morning, my Tindómiel."

Turning, Andreth smiled to see Elros half sitting up, reclined upon his elbow, their covering slipped down to his waist.

"Good morning, Rau Amin," she returned. Her robe slipped a little down her shoulder, but she made no effort to draw it up again.

Elros smiled. "You look like a Maia with the morning light behind you."

Andreth let the door fall shut behind her, and returned to the sleeping pallet, dropping to her knees beside her husband in the spot she had left a few moments before.

"Lay beside me again," he urged. "Is the morning air not cold against your skin?"

"Not too badly," she sighed, gratefully snuggling down against his proffered arm as she pushed her legs once warm beneath the warmth of their covering. Her legs entangled with his. "But still, your warmth is welcome. Are my feet cold after treading over the grass?"

Elros sighed as his arms surrounded her. "Of course they are," he said, but laughed as he did. "But I am glad I can warm them."

She smiled up into his eyes, seeing in them the darkness and warmth she had seen the night before. Eagerly she tipped her head up for a kiss, and Elros was bending his head, his hunger for her quickly growing evident, when a soft coo interrupted them.

"Ah," Elros sighed, and drew back, his eyes moving to their son. "Vardamir is awake."

A louder snuffled, followed by a distressed whimper answered him.

"I think he is hungry," Andreth said, beginning to turn toward the waking baby.

"Here, let me get him," Elros said, and sitting up, he leaned over Andreth, scooping the baby up in one strong arm.

"Good morning to you, my son," he murmured, placing a kiss against the baby's smooth brow before depositing him beside his mother.

Andreth rolled toward the baby now and drew him close. Eagerly, Vardamir began to nurse, clearly hungry from his nightlong fast. Behind her, Elros moved close, propped upon one elbow, warm against her back. A gentle hand found her shoulder as his lips gently brushed the back of her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

"Such is the way of parents, I suppose," she sighed. "To be interrupted like this."

"I don't mind," Elros murmured, his hand slid down her arm, and moved to her stomach. "He is a marvelous son, and you are a wonderful wife."

Andreth smiled, and craned her neck, looking up into her husband's eyes. "I love you, Elros," she murmured.

"I love you, my-" His voice changed abruptly, and he looked up past her. "Hold a moment. Look at that."

At the wonder in his eyes and voice, Andreth turned, and followed his gaze. Just beyond Vardamir's makeshift cradle, a little flower had poked its head above the grass. She blinked at it, then opened her eyes in awe. She knew the flower, but until now, she had only seen the flowers she had planted around the palace. How had this lone flower come all the way out here? A seed on the wind? Or had it come with them, unseen in their packages or bedding, only to spring up just now, here?

"A Tindómiel," she murmured.

Just then, Vardamir drew back, his tiny lips wetted with milk, his hunger sated. He gave a dainty sneeze before sighing, and closing his eyes.

Andreth smiled, and leaned back into Elros' chest, enjoying the feel of him, his arm about her, and his hand against her stomach before a sudden stirring within jerked her eyes open once more. She turned her head swiftly, seeing in Elros' changed expression that he had sensed the change as well.

"Another child?" he gasped, his hand against her stomach tightening. His face took on an adorably bewildered expression. Confusion and excitement both written on his face. "Already? But when- when did we-"

"Elros!" she laughed aloud. "Do you not remember last night, upon the sand at the water's edge? Surely-,"

"Of course I remember! I could not forget such a night. It was the first time for us, in the waking world on- _our_ beach." He looked down upon her with a penitent look before his bewildered expression returned. "But Vardamir is not yet weaned-"

"It is no matter!" she laughed, rolling to her back to more easily look up at her husband, her body still warm with the feel of a new life beginning within her. "All will be well. Vardamir is nearly a year, and-," she moved her hand to cover her husband's where it still rested on her belly. "In less than a year, he will have-" She swallowed hard. "A sister."

Elros' adorable bewilderment melted into a look of gladness. "A daughter," he breathed.

For a long moment their eyes studied one another until both of them spoke at the same moment. "Tindómiel."


End file.
